Gurugram-based bus aggregator Shuttl has raised close to $1 million (Rs 7.3 crore at current exchange rates) in a fresh funding round from venture debt provider Trifecta Capital, a person directly familiar with the development told TechCircle.

E-mail queries to Shuttl’s co-founders Amit Singh and Deepanshu Malviya, seeking comments on this investment round did not elicit a response at the time of publishing this report.

Owned by Super Highway Labs Pvt. Ltd, the company was founded in April 2015 by Singh, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, and Malviya, an IIT-Kanpur graduate.

Currently operational in Delhi-NCR, the platform provides shuttle services across more than 50 routes with about 600 buses, averaging around 30,000 rides a day. Shuttl also separately caters to corporates and provides vehicles for rentals, according to information available on its platform.

In September 2016, Shuttl had launched a feature called ‘chirp,’ which automatically identified a commuter while boarding a bus.

For the financial year 2016-17, it posted operational revenues of Rs 14.34 crore, a seven-fold increase from Rs 2.23 crore in the previous year. Its net losses widened to Rs 59.07 crore, up from Rs 52.54 crore in 2015-16.

Other players

Shuttl is among the best-funded players in the bus aggregation space. Other startups include ZipGo and Cityflo. The trio position themselves as cheaper and greener alternatives in the metros, providing long-distance trunk routes connecting housing suburbs with business hubs.